Jürgen Klopp was happy with the Champions League draw until he realised that after playing Manchester City on the Wednesday his Liverpool side would face an early kick-off on the Saturday – against Everton.
The Merseyside derby was originally scheduled for Sunday 8 April but was brought forward by a day for TV purposes. Manchester City are in a somewhat similar situation – their game between the two legs of the quarter-final is against Manchester United – and it could be the one that sees them crowned Premier League champions, but that game kicks off at a more reasonable 5.30pm.
“We are not going to get much recovery time after what will be a very intense game against City,” the Liverpool manager said. “Obviously whoever made the schedule did not think we would reach the quarter-finals because the derby was originally a Sunday game.
“I know countries where they cancel whole matchdays so teams can be in the best shape for big games in Europe. We play at 7.45pm on Wednesday and 12.30 on the Saturday. Oops, it’s only Liverpool. City get to play at 5.30. Can you imagine how big that difference is for two sides involved in a Champions League meeting that is bound to be intense? Five hours means the world in terms of preparation and recovery.”
Klopp had originally joked the all-English quarter-final was a dream pairing – “all Manchester United fans must be really happy” – but confessed he was angry about the way the crux of Liverpool’s season has been compromised. “It is not perfect,” he said. “Obviously we have to go the hard way but I am used to that. We take it like it is but, if I cannot be angry about something like this any more, then I am dead. I cannot be politically correct and say nothing because that doesn’t work.
“We are going to have two very intense games against City and the one in between at Everton is not going to be much less intense either. I would at least like to have seen it put on at a normal time and not at breakfast.”
Complaints over Premier League fixture scheduling apart, the Champions League draw threw up some attractive ties, as might be expected, with Sevilla facing Bayern Munich, Juventus taking on Real Madrid in a repeat of last season’s final and Barcelona going up against Roma.
City could win a treble of sorts – they are practically certain to win the league and have the Carabao Cup in the bag – though the treble is out of reach since their FA Cup exit at Wigan.
Klopp is the only manager apart from Paul Cook to prevail against Pep Guardiola in a meaningful contest this season and, while Wigan have shown what even a League One side can achieve, the task may be slightly more difficult over two legs – if City manage to keep 11 players on the pitch.
“City didn’t want us,” the Liverpool manager said. “Our record is not too bad against them; we are not a team they would like to play constantly. I have respect for their manager – we do not know each other particularly well so I would not say we have a relationship.
“City are obviously one of the strongest teams left in the competition but you are more or less bound to come up against a world-class team in the quarter-finals. I have no problem with that. The thing I love most about football is that it is really not decided before you play. It is not about what has happened in the past. It is about what you do in the game.”
